The Woodworking Thread

This is a discussion on The Woodworking Thread within Shifting gears, part of the Around the Corner category; Offtopic somewhat guys. Been always wanting to make a table like this -
What kinda wood would I need for ...

Can you please give step by step instructions for wood polishing methods? thanks in advance.

I am in process of making a serving trolley for wifey dearest and the work was getting delayed as she could not finalise on the color she wanted.
After much deliberations, she chose RUSTY RED after seeing similar thing on some website:
I have covered top with wood veneer which can be polished to get that wooden grainy looks. I had pasted veneer in odd layout to break monotony of the TOP.

Some photos are taken at odd angles as hands were covered in paint:

Here is the process I used in "STAINING" the TOP:

The mid range is already color polished to show the unpainted area.

Bottle of STAINER (Rs 40) and two wet pieces of sari (cotton) cloth. Small one for applying teh STAIN color and bigger one for "POLISHING" the stain. There are hundreds of videos on YOUTUBE about staining.

I had added some water directly in bottle and here taking paint on the small piece.

Applying STAIN. If you find STAINER consitency to be thick, feel free to add more water. Run your hand in line of grains of wood/veneer. You will get PAINTED look on wood. Now wait for about 15-20 minutes.

Take bigger piece of cloth and soak it in water.

Squeeze out just enough water that it does not drip.

Run along the grain lines with free hand till you get the finish you are looking for. More rubbing will reveal more wood so be cautious too.

The final look I settled for. The middle ones are still wet so color variation can be noted. I applied clear varnish after 24 hours.

PREPARING FOR COLOR POLISHING/PAINTING WILL FOLLOW IN NEXT POST.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannabelean

Offtopic somewhat guys. Been always wanting to make a table like this - What kinda wood would I need for something like this?

You can choose to buy wood from any wood-saw mill or take my route and look for USED PALLET shops (mostly found in the warehouse areas or in industrial areas too. Be careful while buying such wood and ensure that pallets were not used for some harmfiul chemicals etc.
Study about precautions of used pallet wood on net.

Making new post as this one covers PREPARING SURFACE FOR PAINTING/POLISHING/COLOR POLISHING in the most basic manner.

The legs of serving trolley (mentioned in earlier post)

Wood cement

Wood cement-paste made with water and ready for use. In case you are planning to PAINT the wood then you can choose to add some fevicol too.

Paste applied with free hand. Use as much as required for filling the holes, crevices and notches but remember extra paste will mean extra sanding. The paste dries quite fast so make small amounts of paste as and when required.

Closer look of nail holes prior filling.

Closer look of nail holes post filling. Wait for about 2-4 hours.

This will follow with SANDING using 220-grit and finer grit sandpaper. Fold the sandpaper in halves or quarters depending on area to be covered and sand in line of grain with light pressure. Over pressure will tired you up and also not help much in sanding as the paste will get stuck to sandpaper itself. Dont try to judge the surface with eyes but run you hand lightly on surface, it should feel like running your hand on smoooth surface of glass or vetrified (floor) tiles.
I used fevicol+water mixed paste to fill big notch in the corner.

CLAIMER: I use discarded wood pieces and this serving trolley is made from discarded door for LOFTS made in most Mumbai apartments.

THough I havent done anything myself , am working on the interior design for my house . And one of the new ideas that we want to do is to use CNC cut wooden panels instead of using the regular false ceiling .

I have identified a few companies in pune who do the CNC work and it looks really wonderful .

Project of two triangular side tables.
The idea of design was drawn from numerous examples available on net and then tweaked it with tapered legs. Initially I was worried about the load capacity but has been safely tested to take load of up to 80 kgs.

I need to cover the area under the staircase outside my house and keep my inverter there. Was thinking of a DIY woodwork project. As all but one side is covered, all I need is a front panel with doors and a locking mechanism. May split this into 3 equal width doors. The area in picture is something like the attached image. Only difference is that the hypotenuse is smooth and not toothed (if that makes any sense)
Attached reference image.
Need pointers as to what I should be looking at.

When I was a kid I used to watch the carpentry work being done in my home (all the furniture for our large family was built in house). Only teak was used.

Before varnishing, they would sand with fine grit; then apply what looked like Plaster of Paris powder mixed with turpentine all over the surface; let it dry; then sand it again with hi-grit paper; repeat; then apply a few coats of varnish. The result was glossy, mirror-finish, rich looking wood.

We bought some end-tables from Pepperfry; they look like I picked them up from the roadside; so bad is the fit, finish and staining. Our sofa from Ekbote is professionally finished, though.

Question: Some custom made furniture was stained dark against our wishes, and we had to take it as it was. Supposedly the frame is made of teak and the boards are Marine Ply. It looks to me like the wood is light colored underneath the stain. Is it possible to sand off the dark stain and restain / varnish for a natural look?

Armed with above, I started designing the table. The problem was that one leg of chair base was broken and I had to saw it off. With unbalanced base, circular or square design was not feasible. I had to design something that will be offset but look good once done. The answer lay in chair base itself.
I placed chair base on newspaper and connected the extreme end points & gave them circular share. Armed with my CAD drawing I proceeded to cut two table tops from scarp pieces of plywood and shape it up.

I need to cover the area under the staircase outside my house and keep my inverter there. Was thinking of a DIY woodwork project. Only difference is that the hypotenuse is smooth and not toothed (if that makes any sense) Need pointers as to what I should be looking at.

Hi Akshay, I am quite late to reply and hopefully the job is already done. If not, then would love to guide you on same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

Great thread! We bought some end-tables from Pepperfry; they look like I picked them up from the roadside; so bad is the fit, finish and staining. Our sofa from Ekbote is professionally finished, though.
Question: Some custom made furniture was stained dark against our wishes, and we had to take it as it was. Supposedly the frame is made of teak and the boards are Marine Ply. It looks to me like the wood is light colored underneath the stain. Is it possible to sand off the dark stain and restain / varnish for a natural look?
Thanks!

Again sorry for delayed reply:
I have found that about 3 out 10 products are ONLY worth their money on all such interior furniture websites.

The stain on your wood piece can be corrected but it will require lots of sanding and generous amount of wood thinner.
1) Sand the piece with 150 grit sandpaper to bare wood but don't go too deep. You will still find some stain streaks in the grains.
2) Rub these with thinner on cotton cloth and let it evaporate. Keep going till the stain is lighter in shade or has disappeared.
3) Use 300 & above grit paper for that satin look.
4) Around evening, dab a cotton cloth in water (Not dripping but wet) and run it all over the sanded area and leave it for overnight.
5) Next day, you will find wood finish to be like one day old beard. The water causes the free strands of wood to stand out. Now sand them again with 300 or higher grit paper and do it patiently and in even strokes. As I mentioned before, don't judge surface by eye but by feel. I use rubber (HAWAI CHAPPAL) base as backup for sand paper.
6) Once satisfied, clean entire area with cotton cloth dipped in thinner. This will also give you preview of how your wood will look under bare polish.
7) Now apply the stain of your choice as directed in one of my posts above and lock it with clear varnish after 24 hours of applying stain.

Regards-Sonu

Last edited by Gannu_1 : 2nd July 2015 at 13:14.
Reason: Corrected as requested.

The stain on your wood piece can be corrected but it will require lost of sanding and generous amount of wood thinner.

Thank you very much for the comprehensive instructions, Sonu! Your instructions are so good, I am confident of doing this myself instead of hiring a carpenter whose work quality is a huge unknown factor!
Best Regards!

A friend wanted a dressing unit which will not take any floor space and so I built her this. (the mirror cost around 700/- for front fascia)
The unpainted front now boasts of a full length mirror with bevel edges.

Another friend wanted a small cabinet unit for storing her precious cutlery which was being "EXECUTED", piece by piece, by her maid.

Edges have been polished in black, to match the drawer unit.

Pardon the quality as photos are taken by phone during work when the muscles & nerves are already tired from all the physical work.

Both are made from cut pieces left over from other projects. My friends & neighbors, who know that I do woodworking have generously donated such leftover pieces (from their house/shop renovations) to me.

Mid Feb, wifey comes home & tells me that her next kitty party is going to be at our house. Then she looks questionably at me & then at our centre table, which has been on my TO-DO list from last six months.
In fact I had begin on this table almost 3 months back but the first set of legs did not match with any other furniture so I had ripped them out. Then everything fell into limbo of getting that PERFECT design.
They say the pressure can get your best pheromones working & VOILA, next morning it hit me that my preferred design was always in front of my eyes.